Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

When young and attractive Lina Stroppiani, a thief like the rest of her family, tries to steal the taxi of Paolo, together with two accomplices, she can't possibly know that this will have far reaching consequences.

In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.

Esposito is a thief who cons tourists in Rome. Officer Bottoni manages to catch him and starts persecuting him. When Esposito manages to flee, Bottoni's superiors inform him that he'll lose his job if he can't catch Esposito.

On seaside holiday, Nero, Poppea, Seneca and their friends and family prepare a great show where Nero will star. When his mother Agrippina arrives with her German praetorians and decides Nero has to conquer Britain, she's asking for trouble. Many attempts of murder and poisoning will happen on the eve of his great show.

A man and a woman would like to get married, but lack the necessary funds for the traditional "big" wedding. Thus they plan to escape to the countryside and "live in sin".

Nando Moriconi is a young Italian living in Rome obsessed with all-things American.

A day at an Italian trial court, where a magistrate judges a full array of peculiar petty crimes and characters.

Two young hunters of wolves are involved in a conflict. Besides the dangerous wild wolves, beautiful Teresa is the center of attention.

A group of "respectable" people are all partly responsible for the suicide of a servant girl. They are pounced upon by a wily blackmailer, who knows that these people will pay dearly rather than inform on themselves or others.

A young poacher is wrongly accused of killing the father of the woman he loves.

A young Milanese pastry chef, Susanna, is working in the pastry shop of her family. She has to defend herself from both a jealous boyfriend, and competition from other pastry chefs who want to know the recipe of the famous cream cake that bears her name.

Orazio Menicotti is a night policeman in Rome. One night he is present at a quarrel between husband and wife and he volunteers to take the wife to the Police Station. While he goes around Rome with the blonde and beautiful woman, a bank is robbed.

After several attempts at suicide, depressed thief Antonio Marchi accidentally drowns in a river and ends up in hell.

In Nazi-occupied Rome, a beautiful bootlegger, to the chagrin of her lover, gives sanctuary to three escaped POWs: an American pilot, a Russian sergeant and a British major.

An unemployed man gets a job as traffic policeman but the traffic in the big city creates innumerous problems for the poor guy.

Marcello is engaged to Gina, the daughter of the boarding house where he lives, but he is undecided whether to marry her or not.

In the Po Valley during the 19th century, a rich girl engaged to a well-to-do farmer ends up penniless and is forced to work for her fiancé’s relatives. Peasant unrest, carried to extremes by both workers and landowners, leads to violence and tragedy.

Episodic film with flashbacks about the lives of some sick and infirm people travelling on the same train, making a pilgrimage to the shine of Our Lady of Loreto.

Nannina is engaged to a sleazy, unruly boxer who ends up in jail after a fight with a traffic policeman.